Variables

Variables The 2024 Type Directors Club Annual 9. POIZONSans ACD Dewu Design

10. Norbert TypeMates

11. Leopardo 205TF

12. Jeff Koons Font Ji Eun Lee

13. Moulin Sandrine Nugue

14.YouTube Sans Tamil Ek Type

4.

7.

11.

12.

Type Excellence of 2024 Type Diversity This years competition highlighted an impressive range of type, with winners from around the world.

The United States led with the highest representation at 25%, followed closely by China, France, India, and the Netherlands. Emerging talent from countries like Vietnam, South Korea, and Brazil also made a strong impression. This diversity showcases the TDC’s commitment to celebrating creativity across borders, bringing together top talent from the entire typography community.

Increase In Global Presence There has been a notable shift this year in the significant presence of non-Latin typefaces, a departure from past years where Latin-based type dominated. 48% of winning typefaces were non-Latin this year with Arabic and Chinese representing the majority. This expansion reflects an increased focus on cultural inclusivity and global representation in design. Additionally, the variety in styles is impressive, with display, serif, sans-serif, and script typefaces being represented in nearly equal measure. This balance in style offers a refreshing range that highlights both classic and experimental design, making the 2024 selection one of the most exciting and varied yet.

SERIF

MOULIN An asymmetrical flared design characterized by a distinct rhythm. The sweeping curves create a unique shape between letters making for a fascinating tension between serif and sans.

75% 48% Of winners were from outside of US. NON-LATIN

RST THERMAL Designer: Reset Type Studio Location: Montevideo, Uraguay

SERIF

SANS SERIF

Drawn from 19th-century woodtype and complemented by an italic angle inspired by the 1571 Ascendonica Cursive. A blend that balances historical influences with modern style.

NON-LATIN

Of typefaces were non-Latin.

SERIF

CANELA ARABIC Pulls inspiration from classical Naskh and Thuluth proportions to deliver an Arabic typeface ideal for headlines and short passages.

Designer: Morcos Key Location: New York, NY

SANS SERIF

NON-LATIN

LOES Designer: Duong Tran Location: Hanoi, Vietnam

SANS SERIF

A contemporary and luxurious serif display typeface inspired by stalactites and stalagmites, similar to the flow of an ink pen. It is available in Vietnamese.

NON-LATIN

0001

SERIF

Demographics

SERIF

SERIF

Designer: Sandrine Nugue Location: Montpellier, France

Winners hailed from 14 countries, including the United States, China, Iran, France, Germany, The Netherlands, South Korea, and Brazil.

Designer: Plau Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

SANS SERIF

A study on metal type, focusing on aspects of its design and production. It is not a revival but rather an interpretative typeface influenced by 15th century books.

NON-LATIN

SANS SERIF

SANS SERIF

Extends the range of the SF typeface with a neutral, legible and contemporary design that features nine weights across six widths. Designed to provide a consistent voice across hardware and software.

NON-LATIN

NON-LATIN

Designer: Ek Type Location: Mumbai, India

Reflects the brands warm and inclusive attributes while adhering to existing UI guidelines. It retains the nuances of Tamil script and emulates the personality of the larger type family.

SANS SERIF

A Mongolian variable sansserif designed for long text and multi-script typographic matchmaking. It is defined by its versatility.

Conceived as a revival of Super Grotesk from 1930. It now questions how we use historical type in the modern day. Flaring stems result in a switch to reverse contrast in light weights.

Extends the range of the SF typeface with a neutral, legible and contemporary design that features nine weights across six widths. Designed to provide a consistent voice across hardware and software.

NON-LATIN

Designer: YMG Type Foundry Location: Seoul, South Korea

Inspired by the curves of handwritten strokes and the structure of Hangul sans serifs. This typeface spans a variable axis and includes a set of 11,172 characters across multiple styles.

NON-LATIN

Designer: Apple Design Team Location: Cupertino, California

A heavy-weight sans-serif typeface designed with a packed square frame, the end of the strokes are angled to bring out a calligraphic touch, fitting the characteristics of Hangul Korean scripts.

Extends the range of the SF typeface with a neutral, legible and contemporary design that features nine weights across six widths. Designed to provide a consistent voice across hardware and software.

NON-LATIN

YOUTUBE SANS DEVANAGARI Designer: Ek Type Location: Mumbai, India Client: YouTube Art Department

SANS SERIF

GASOEK Designer: JAMO Location: Seoul, South Korea

SF HEBREW

SANS SERIF

YOUTUBE SANS KOREAN

SANS SERIF

TONKA Designer: Celine Hurka Location: The Hague, Netherlands

Designer: Apple Design Team Location: Cupertino, California

SANS SERIF

YOUTUBE SANS TAMIL

ESE-UNEN Designer: Tengis Type Location: Hohhot, China

Influenced by European type and blended with treatments from Middle Eastern script, this sharp, elegant, curved typeface supports both Latin and Arabic.

Designer: Hirbod Lotfian Location: Amiens, France

SF GEORGIAN Designer: Apple Design Team Location: Cupertino, California

SF ARMENIAN

GESTE

DUPINCEL

Reflects regional variations of the Devanagari script while emulating the personality of the family. It adheres to preexisting UI guidelines and brand attributes.

NON-LATIN

NOVEMBER ETHIOPIC Designer: Typotheque Location: The Hague, Netherlands

Used for signage and information systems. It is extremely functional at smaller sizes, with distinctive orthogonal end strokes that support the rhythm of the words.

SCRIPT

NON-LATIN

SCRIPT

SCRIPT

Influenced by popular headlines and calligraphy found in newspapers and posters from the Middle East during the 60s–80s. Contemporary details were added to harmonize with modern texts.

NON-LATIN

DECUTTO

SCRIPT

Packs the Marionette formula and blackletter ideas into a low-contrast sans serif design.

A crisp, simplistic look with the carved edges and counters of an old minted coin.

NON-LATIN

Designed as an attempt to enrich and give an additional form to regular script. It structurally borrows from the script style of Zhong Lingfeijing, with stroke forms simplified to extend legibility.

Designer: FounderType Location: Beijing, China

SCRIPT

Designer: Michael Rafailyk Location: Sumy, Ukraine

SCRIPT

NON-LATIN

FZLINGFEIG

SAKKAL SAAD POSTER ARABIC Designer: Sakkal Design Location: Bothell, Washington

NON-LATIN

NON-LATIN

Designer: Borna Izadpanah Location: Reading, England

CROW SCRIPT

SCRIPT

Inspired by calligraphic experiments with brush pens combined with a love for typefaces with multiple angles of slant.

NON-LATIN

NON-LATIN

TABRIZI JALI

SCRIPT

Designer: Cinketype Location: Budapest, Hungary

SCRIPT

This design represents the first ever type revival based on early Naskh types used by Iranian presses in the nineteenth century. It is a result of extensive historical research and experimentation.

NON-LATIN

NITHYA RANJANA

SCRIPT

NON-LATIN

RICLOUD XIUWU FAMILY Blends a graphic style with the simplicity of Heiti fonts.

Dynamic strokes capture a variety of postures creating an expressive, compact, wellbalanced structure.

Designer: Ricloud Type Location: Dalian, China

MONO-SPACE

Despite its rich legacy of manuscript calligraphy and wood engraving, Ranjana has had limited digital representation due to its complexity.

This typeface balances heritage with the contemporary.

Designer: Ek Type Location: Mumbai, India Client: Murali Prahalad

DARVISH Combines features of the Reyhan and Naskh scripts to enhance legibility. Letters have been widened and shortened to improve clarity.

Designer: Standard Font Location: Iran

MONO-SPACE

SERIF

0002

GRAMOPHONE FONT Inspired by a variation of Naskh, the font draws from inscriptions and ancient manuscripts. Letterforms reflect an uncommon style and blends tradition with historical artistry.

Designer: Ameri Type Location: Shiraz, Iran

DISPLAY

TIEXIAN KAISHU FAMILY Reimagines traditional Kaishu with minimalist strokes.

Sharp turns and subtle endings evoke the fluidity of classic calligraphy while retaining the structure of Kaishu.

Designer: Ricloud Type Location: Dalian, China

DISPLAY

Designer: bvh type Location: Paris, France Client: City of Chaumont

DISPLAY

SCRIPT

The city of Chaumont partnered with bvh, creating a playful monospaced typeface with 250 pictograms in order to celebrate the city's heritage, from architecture to markets and sports.

NON-LATIN

SHANGHAI SKY Designer: ReejiType Location: Shanghai, China

Inspired by patterned characters from the Republic of China period. It reflects the city’s traditional Chinese aesthetics, cultural tolerance and the fashion of the cosmopolitan city.

Designer: Frere-Jones Type Location: New York, NY Client: Intel

DISPLAY

This vibrant font is inspired by the hand-painted lettering on Indian trucks. With ten dynamic styles and shadows, it’s available in Color Font and 30 static fonts, offering a mix of simple and ornate.

Designer: Ek Type Location: Mumbai, India Client: Google Fonts

DISPLAY

Designer: Fontwerk Location: Berlin, Germany

The animals’ two-tone fur inspired the design as a color font. Rounded ends and bold font weights are reminiscent of the rodents’ chubby cheeks. The characteristics evoke both hamster and font.

Designer: pprwrk studio Location: Orlando, Florida

Designer: Sharaf Studio Location: Kuwait City, Kuwait Client: Northwestern University Qatar

SCRIPT

A variable multi lingual typeface inspired by the idea that the metaverse is an internet that is accessed using a physical sense of space, allowing for shapeshifting within it.

SANS SERIF

HAPPY FONT & HAPPY SCRIPT. Designer: Typotheque Location: Paris, France

A font ensemble that started as a monospace balancing constraint with personality.

Cursive influence and the removal of serifs add a liveliness across styles.

DISPLAY

F37 NIFTY

METAWHAT?

DISPLAY

HAMSTER

Designed with improved legibility to reduce eyestrain. Low-vision and blind developers used One Mono exclusively during development and provided feedback during its design.

NON-LATIN

HONK

DINA TYPEFAMILY

PANEL FAMILY

INTEL ONE MONO

For the new Happy Socks rebranding, two typefaces were created: a sans serif with concave stems and a script inspired by Stockholm signage.

Both have OpenType variants and small caps for titles.

Designer: F37 Location: Manchester, England

DISPLAY

A playful display typeface with a unique approach to counter forms, letter boundaries and italic possibilities.

It challenges our idea of the difference between italic and regular type styles.

SCRIPT

LEOPARDO Designer: Alexandre Bassi, 205TF Location: Lyon, France

Inspired by 16th and 17th century chancery models, this typeface captures the vitality of the calligraphic gesture. Complex, free, and exuberant, the typeface is a contemporary interpretation.

21

I JALI TABRIZ

L PANE

Contrast

Display Condensed

ular Reg

xt Te

ar gul Re

r pe Su mily Fa

+ lay sp t Di Tex

Di

G HE EOR AR BR GI M EW AN EN , , IA N

ble Varia

A NK

NO ET VEM HO B PI ER C �

Regular

TO

y+ pla Dis ext T

t Tex

ILY M FA

Text

NA DI

Typefaces were low contrast.

SF

Display

T ON YF PP HA

58%

ILY FAM

TE GES

E UB UT YO ANS S

Typefaces were non-Latin.

CROW SCRIPT

Language

r

la gu Re

y la sp

1

1

5

bl ria Va

Te xt

8

e

N

0003

tin

Lat

in

Kore a

n

Chine

se

N

Arabic

1

Low

N

Mongolian

Weights

Contrast

Slant

Language

Super Family

Multi Axis

Axis Single Axis

Width

Serif Display Other

Sans-Serif Script

Regular

Low

La

Behind the Designs Characteristics of the 2024 Winners The 2024 TDC Type Design awards showcased a diverse and impressive range of excellent typefaces.

There were 36 winners this year, the highest number in the TDC’s 78 year history. Breaking down the data insights of the current state of type design in 2024 reveals the trajectory of the industry.

Type Technicalities The technical characteristics of the entries were marked by notable trends. A substantial 58% of the typefaces exhibited low contrast, indicating a preference for subtle shifts in stroke weight, suitable for a variety of modern applications. Additionally, most typefaces (53%) featured a single axis of variation, a practical choice, though multi-axis designs are steadily gaining ground. Italic and slanted styles were also well-represented, with 18 typefaces incorporating these features, demonstrating the continued relevance of expressive and dynamic letterforms. Weight distribution within type families highlighted the predominance of multi-weight designs. On average, the typefaces had 7 weights, underscoring the flexibility and versatility expected in modern type design. While single-weight typefaces remain significant, they were clearly outnumbered by these multi-weight families. Among the submissions, 6 superfamilies were noted, many of which originated from tech-related projects, reflecting the ongoing intersection between typography and technology.

Type on a Global Spectrum Significantly, 21 of the winning typefaces were non-Latin, reflecting the growing emphasis on highlighting a broader range of languages. This years winners covered an impressive linguistic and geographic spectrum, featuring typefaces in Mongolian, Chinese, Korean, Persian, Sanskrit, Georgian, Hebrew, Devanagari, and Armenian among others. Winners hailed from 14 countries, including the United States, China, Iran, France, Germany, The Netherlands, South Korea, and Brazil.

A Shifting Industry This year it has become clear that variable fonts are on the rise and here to stay. Out of the 36 typefaces, 11 were variable, demonstrating the increasing influence of this technology, which allows for a flexible range of typographic expressions within a single file. This trend is likely to be a staple in future TDC competitions as designers continue to embrace its possibilities. In terms of style, sans-serif typefaces remained dominant with 14 winners such as the YouTube Sans Family, SF Family, and Ese-Unen; however, the competition saw a significant rise in scripts and display typefaces, reflecting the ongoing diversification in type design. There were 10 scripts, 8 serifs, and 7 display typefaces, many of which leaned toward low contrast. This shift points to an evolving landscape where sans serifs continue to lead, but with scripts and display fonts gaining ground, offering a broader palette within the world of typography.

Basic Latin

Wide

sic

n

Persian

Low

N

N

N

sic

Ba

ia

n

Ba

N

Low

op

nL ati

tin

d

1

Legibility

No

tin

Y

1

Style

hi

1

DARVISH

Text

Et

La

Cond

sic

Y

La

h

Low

ense

Typeface

sic

GHA SKY I

Hig

2

sic

ular

Ba

Reg

SHAN

Ba

Y

lay

Text

Ba

Y

Lo w

24

Disp

Latin

ar

bic Ara atin nL No tin La

gul

Y

Lo w

Basic

9 Re

Displa y

Y

pla y

Y

Dis

Low

w Lo

N

le

Y

9

ab

OEK

w Lo

Va ri

GAS

w Lo

le 8

pla y

ed Mix

Low

iab

Dis

Low

e 6

Va r MS TER

bl

Low

ia

1

sp Te lay + xt

HA

7

Va r

Di

50% GR AM OP HO NE

F ZL ING

FEI

S AK

TI KA EXIA IS N HU

Average number of weights.

pla y

CA AR NE AB LA IC

Dis pla y

UT C DE

TO

Di

S

E LO y la

sp Di

Re

5

gu la r

1

4

6

Va ria ble

sp

lay

Re gu lar

Te xt

Re gu

lar

Dis

Wid

e

Regu

lar

Regular

Regular

Disp

lay

Displ

7 Weight

ay

Display

Text

Typefaces were single axis.

G

KAL P OS S AAD TER

NITH Y RANJ A ANA

LEOPAR DO

RICLOUD XIUWU

Axis

5 Low

6

High

High

D le

Hig

6

h

iab

r Va

+ lay p s Di Text ria Va

Y

Hi

N

N

gh

N

se bic

48

t Tex

se

Y

ine

h

ic Ar ab

Ch

Ara

Ch

ine

bic Ara

krit

tin Sans

ble

Hi

n No

La

n

ati

L sic

Ba

c asi

B

in

lay

Disp

7

le

b Varia

Low

HONK

3

Y Low

tin

La asic

B

ic

Arab

n

ati Basic L

T? WHA META

h

Y

Lat

ular

Reg

6 Hig

Y

tin

a cL

i as

B

Hig

Y

Y

High

Display

Variable 30

Basic Latin

Y

Low

4

Language

Slant

Contrast

Weights

Axis

Typestyles While sans serifs were the most common typestyle of the year, TDC 43 marked its most diverse selection yet, with an impressive variety of scripts, non-Latin, and display typefaces.

Regular

Text

Width

Legibility

Display 14%

38% 25%

Style

Sans Serif 38%

Typestyles

Typefaces were Scripts.

INTEL ONE MONO

Other 7%

Serif 16%

Typefaces were Sans Serifs.

N

ULI

MO

ia Var

N

Basic La

t Tex

7

w Lo

tin

EL

INC

P DU

ble

3 gh

N

N

Lo w

Y

N

TT RS

lay isp

Re

4

High

Low

ar

l gu

0004

Chinese

L

MA

R HE

Script 25%

Typeface

Meet the Designers

10%

Winners

Read about the people behind the typefaces of TDC 70. Join us in celebrating the talent of those who are pushing boundaries, leading the industry, and shaping the future of typography.

50% Individuals

40% Mid Sized

DUONG TRAN

INDIVIDUALS

BORNA IZADPANAH

Typeface: Loes Location: Hanoi, Vietnam

Typeface: Tabrizi Jali Location: Reading, England

Duong Tran is a type designer currently on his journey of crafting letters with passion, emotional expression and precision. Duong has been designing type since 2020 and strives to blend storytelling with visuals within each project. Tran already has three typefaces available on Future Fonts: Loes, Lavishe, and Thow. Duong focuses on finding ways to scale up the market of Vietnamese supported typefaces and his active posting of Vietnamese typographic explorations increases visibility of the language.

Borna Izadpanah is a lecturer at the University of Reading exploring typeface design, typography, lithography, and history of printed letterforms, particularly in the context of languages that have been represented with the Arabic script. Central to his work is decolonising the curriculum, promoting diversity by combining expertise that reaches beyond European visual cultures and the Latin script.

Personally, he is working on a book project entitled The early typographic representation of the Persian language.

HIRBOD LOTFIAN

CELINE HURKA

Typeface: Geste Location: Amiens, France

Typeface: Tonka Location: The Hague, Netherlands

Hirbod Lotfian is a professional typeface designer originally from Iran and currently based in France. With over 9 years of experience in the industry, Hirbod is deeply passionate about creating exceptional typefaces that give brands a distinctive voice. He has been commissioned to design more than 7 Arabic typefaces, establishing him as an expert in the field. Additionally, he has crafted custom type designs for prominent high-tech enterprises, finance institutions, and publishing companies.

Celine Hurka is an independent type designer and artist.

In her practice, she aims to challenge and disrupt conventions that have dominated for centuries. For Celine, letters are cultural signifiers that carry meaning beyond the words they compose. Her typefaces are deeply personal projects, drawing inspiration from her long-standing interest in type history, technological innovation, personal stories, pop culture, flowers, and universal emotions. She is currently a teacher at Type and Media and LABASAD.

0005

KARIM AMERI

TENGIS KHASBAGANA

Typeface: Gramophone Location: Shiraz, Iran

Typeface: Ese-Unen Location: Hohhot, China

Karim Ameri is a type designer under the name Ameri Type. He holds a bachelor's degree in design from Shiraz Art University and has focused much of his work on developing fonts that blend traditional calligraphy with modern typographic styles. His designs often draw inspiration from Persian script traditions, especially Naskh and Thuluth styles. Ameri has designed several notable typefaces, including Falsafeh, Telegraph, and TDC winner Gramophone. His type work can be found on Fontiran.

Tengis Khasbagana is a type designer and expert in Mongolian script. Tengis studied at Inner Mongolian University and has been an active type designer since 2013.

He founded Tengis Type in 2014, establishing himself as a leading figure in Mongolian typography. His designs are influenced by traditional Mongolian handwriting, bringing a modern twist to the style. His past projects include Whetstone, Post-Utopia, Monster Type, Mortal Type, Consummate Type, Amidu, and Steed Type.

KHAJAG APELIAN

CINKETYPE

Typeface: Moulin Location: Montpellier, France

Typeface: Metawhat, Canela Arabic Location: Kuwait City, Kuwait

Typeface: Crow Script Location: Budapest, Hungary

Sandrine Nugue is an independent type & graphic designer based in France. She divides her time between her type and graphic design practice, while also lecturing and teaching workshops in France and abroad. In 2015, she designed a free typefamily named Infini, the first public commission by The Centre National des Arts Plastiques.

The typeface is now part of Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s collection. Her type families are released by 205TF, Commercial Type and Oh no Type.

Khajag Apelian is a lettering artist, type and graphic designer. Having grown up between Dubai and Beirut, and being raised in an Armenian family, Khajag has an affinity for different languages and writing systems, which he has applied to the development of typefaces in many scripts, including Arabic, Armenian, and Latin. Khajag graduated from the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague with a Master of Design in Type and Media, He currently operates under the name “debakir” Armenian for “printed type.”

Cinketype is a project by Tibor Szikora, the Hungarian type designer specializing in producing custom typefaces and lettering. He’s passionate about design education, and open to consultation with other creatives. Tibor has more than a decade of experience in graphic design and branding. His typefaces are rooted in Hungarian history and identity. One example is Margaret Neue, a revival project inspired by Zoltán Nagy’s original Margaret that won the 1966 International Type Design Competition.

SANDRINE NUGUE

MICHAEL RAFAILYK

10% Large

REEJI TYPE

GUODONG ZHAN

Typeface: Decutto Location: Sumy, Ukraine

Typeface: Shanghai Sky Location: Shanghai, China

Typeface: TieXian Kaishu Family Location: Dalian, China

Michael Rafailyk is a brand designer, illustrator, composer, and type designer. He holds a BA in Music Composition and was conductor of the orchestra at the Bortnianski Art & Music College. His whole life is connected to creativity. Michael’s experiences with the arts and music have informed his design practice, showing him the importance of conveying emotion within his work. Michael’s multidisciplinary approach has contributed to his rhythmic, classical, and decorative typographic explorations.

ReejiType collaborated with Liu Zhao, a Chinese type designer and founder of ZhaoType. Liu is known for his innovative approach to typography, blending traditional Chinese calligraphy with modern design principles. Liu Zhao’s work often focuses on creating typefaces that reflect the evolving aesthetic of contemporary China, while maintaining a deep respect for the country’s typographic and cultural heritage. Liu is part of the movement to modernize Chinese type to contemporary design needs.

Ricoud Type Studio was founded in 2017 by Guodong Zhan. Guodong is a Professor at Dalian Minzu University and contracted designer of Hanyi Fonts. Member of SGDA (Shenzhen Graphic Design Association), Nanjing Graphic Designers, and ATypl (Association Typographique Internationale), Guodong is highly active in the type community. He specializes in Chinese typography. This years winner TieXian, made in collaboration with Ying Lin, is representative of the Kaishu font style.

ALEXANDRE BASSI

REZA BOHLUL

MARK CANESO

Typeface: Leopardo Location: Lyon, France

Typeface: Darvish Location: Iran

Typeface: Panel Family Location: Orlando, Florida

Alexandre Bassi is a type designer and researcher. He discovered type design during his masters at the École de Communication Visuelle (ECV) in Paris. Alexandre later embarked on 24 months of research around developing a digital typeface of Mayan hieroglyphs. Many writing systems lack adequate digital transcription, and Alexandre has made it his mission to put effort toward visibility for such type projects. Alexandre currently distributes his typefaces through 205TF and is working on a sans serif.

Standard Font is the project of Reza Bohlul, an Iranian designer, and photographer. With a passion for digital lettering and the advancement of type design, Reza's work merges traditional craftsmanship with modern technology. He distributes his typefaces through the font store FontIran, which serves as a key platform for Persian typography. In addition to his typefaces, Reza is the designer and developer of Wall Script, a plugin for Glyphs that allows users to pin their most-needed scripts.

Mark Caneso is the owner and operator of PSTL (ps. type), the digital type foundry and custom lettering department of pprwrk studio. Mark is a type designer, graphic designer and lettering artist currently moving around the USA. With a focus on drawing letterforms of all shapes and sizes, Mark takes every opportunity to inject his work with a quirky sense of humor, light hearted approach and bold visual language. His work has been featured by Communication Arts, Print, Slanted, & TDC.

FOUNDER TYPE

MID-SIZED

Typeface: Fzlingfeig Location: Beijing, China

Typeface: RST Thermal Location: Montevideo, Uruguay

Founder Type is a leader in the field of Chinese type design. Known for their rich styles and extensive catalogue, Founder has more than 2,000 simplified and traditional Chinese character libraries. Founder Type has always set out to promote the advancement of Chinese font technology and development of Chinese printing fonts. Founder Type are active participants in creating Chinese national type standards, fulfilling the aesthetic and technical requirements of the language through their typefaces.

Established in 2023 by Fernando Diaz, Reset Type Studio is a foundry crafting dynamic variable fonts with a focus on close collaboration and experimentation. They consider their greatest strength to be teamwork, a quality that allows them to build contemporary, original and useful typefaces marked by attention to detail and joy. Reset Type has a unique website intended only for dynamic typography, showing Reset Type's refreshing commitment to new technologies and their forward creative angle.

BVH TYPE

YORGO&CO

RESET TYPE STUDIO

MORCOS KEY

Typeface: Dina Typefamily Location: Paris, France

Typeface: Canela Arabic Location: New York, NY

Established in 2022 by Swiss typographer/type designer André Baldinger and German graphic designer Toan Vu-Huu, bvh type is an extension of their design studio, baldinger•vu-huu. Original, singular, and contemporary typefaces are their mark. Being a small team, bvh accepts nothing less than excellence. Each of their typefaces is used and extensively tested in at least one of their design projects before going public. Their type is informed by location, with many inspired by their French clientele.

Morcos Key is a Brooklyn-based design studio collaborating with arts & cultural institutions, non-profits, and commercial enterprises in North America and the Middle East. A partnership between Wael Morcos and Jon Key, Morcos Key specializes in multi-lingual identity, editorial, environment and digital projects. They leverage design as a guidepost between the injustices of the past and a more equitable future with much of their work being premised on the interplay of text, language, heritage, and function.

FONTWERK

TYPOTHEQUE

Typeface: Happy Font & Happy Script.

Location: Paris, France

Typeface: Hamster Location: Berlin, Germany

Typeface: November Ethiopic Location: The Hague, Netherlands

Yorgo&Co is a creative studio that was founded in Paris and is led by Yorgo Tloupas. Yorgo is committed to making design more accessible, encouraging emerging designers to focus on local projects. This philosophy is reflected in Yorgo&Co’s work, as they prioritize brands that have traditionally been underserved in terms of aesthetics. Their goal is to create a more visually appealing future, transforming brands while highlighting the power thoughtful design can have on the ordinary or everyday.

Fontwerk is a team of international designers, font engineers and marketing experts, many from the original FontShop universe, the place where typographic trends were set, simple license models devised, experimental limits explored and the largest library of contemporary typefaces emerged. As a font publisher, Fontwerk gives a platform to typographers, providing them with the space and time to craft intentional typefaces. Their range of designers is reflected in their eclectic collection of type.

Typotheque is a type design company known for bringing world languages to the digital space. They were one of the first foundries to offer web fonts as well as adopt variable font technology. By investing heavily in research, studying the minutiae of readability, cultural context, and script-specific design, Typotheque has become a foundry to watch as the type space becomes increasingly global.

They are committed to linguistic diversity, ensuring that underrepresented scripts are a part of the digital world.

JAMO

Typeface: F37 Nifty Location: Manchester, England

JAMO is a type design collective group who encourage the experimental and unconventional. They work towards moving beyond the Latin Alphabet by broadening the potential of Hangul to co-live with other worldwide letters.

JAMO are also proponents of type education, providing professional learning, information, and discussion opportunities to designers who are wishing to develop their own typefaces. JAMO bridges the past and the present while suggesting new kinds of letterforms for the future.

F37 is a foundry working in the intersection of historic and contemporary, bold and functional. They offer a full suite of graphic design services — everything from branding and art direction, to packaging and moving image.

F37 celebrates their collaborations with other designers.

Some recent explorations include Clown, a capital only font that takes inspiration from balloon animals and the lively spirit of childhood and Galax, a modular font composed of circles that expands and contracts as it is typed.

SAKKAL DESIGN

Typeface: Honk, YouTube Sans, Nithya Ranjana Location: Mumbai, India

Typeface: Sakkal Saad Poster Arabic Location: Bothell, Washington

Ek Type is a collaborative type design studio specializing in the development of fonts across all Indian languages, many multi-script. Ek often mentors upcoming type designers, engaging them in the process of font development and providing a platform for them to showcase their work. Apart from the development and sale of fonts, Ek creates documentation and spreads awareness about Indian typography, aiming to preserve and revive traditional Indian scripts for modern use cases in the digital space.

Sakkal Design has been creating Arabic calligraphy and typography since the 1990s. The team consists of Mamoun Sakkal, the Arabic type specialist for Microsoft, and his daughter, Aida Sakkal, a contributor to the OpenType format for Arabic. With education across Computer Science, Islamic Art, and an extensive knowledge of typography, the duo develop font systems that model the artistry and beauty of handwritten calligraphy. Sakkal Design is recognized as a TDC expert on Arabic script.

PLAU

APPLE DESIGN TEAM Typeface: SF Armenian, SF Hebrew, SF Georgian Location: Cupertino, California

Typeface: Dupincel Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

LARGE COMPANY

FRERE-JONES

The Apple Design Team, led by Evans Hankey and Alan Dye, has a special relationship with typography. From the development of TrueType to their history of exceptionally crafted custom fonts, Apple’s commitment to excellence, precision, and progress has undeniably influenced the field of type design. The team’s expansion of the San Francisco type family, with the TDC awarding SF Georgian, SF Armenian, and SF Hebrew this year, shows the continued longevity and excellence of their approach.

YOUTUBE ART DEPT.

Typeface: Intel One Mono Location: New York, NY

Typeface: YouTube Sans Location: Mumbai & Seoul

Over 25 years, Tobias Frere-Jones has established himself as one of the world’s leading typeface designers, creating some of the most widely used typefaces, including Interstate, Poynter Oldstyle, Whitney, Gotham, Surveyor, Tungsten, and Retina. He combines technical expertise with a historical perspective. His recent collaboration with Intel, a major tech company, brought new opportunities for addressing type legibility in the digital space, further showcasing his ability for innovative design.

The YouTube Art Department is an identity design and branding team that collaborates with UX and Marketing to meaningfully express YouTube’s brand across platforms. YouTube is one of many big tech names venturing into the world of bespoke type. As more large corporations recognize the value of custom typography for their brand, a new dimension of the type industry has begun to take shape. This shift highlights a rising trend of large companies entering the field of typography.

0006

Typeface: Gasoek Location: Seoul, South Korea

EK TYPE

Plau is a design studio that has been making type since 2006. Their is work is diverse, spanning a range of styles from Brazilian influences to those based in traditional Swiss design. Plau’s founder, Rodrigo Saiani, believes that typography should be a part of everyday conversations, much like music. The goal of popularizing typography is what animates Plau’s moves. Through their designs, classes, workshops, and unique identities, Plau’s team pushes the field of type toward wider discussion and access.

F37

The Future of type In recent years, the winners of the TDC Typeface Design Awards have reflected an exciting evolution in the world of typography. As seen below, the TDC has celebrated innovative typefaces that bridge functionality with artistry. In 2024, the selected typefaces embodied a rich narrative, pushing the boundaries of traditional design and inviting viewers to explore new dimensions of form and expression. The variety on display is a testament to what typography can achieve, making 2024 a standout year in the competition’s history, and showing how tradition and modernity coexist to shape the future of type design.

How far have we come?

The 2024 winners showcase a vibrant diversity of visual styles. Innovative display typefaces, expressive scripts, global calligraphy, and geometric designs mark a stark departure from the conservative trends of the past two decades, which consisted of predominantly traditional serifs and sans serifs. This evolution of the competition highlights the concerted efforts of the TDC board to fostering a comprehensive dialogue in the realm of type design. In addition to having the most variety in recent years, 2024 saw the most winners, with 36 taking home an award.

1. Hamster Fontwerk GmbH

5. Canela Arabic Moros Key Foundry

2. Heldane Klim Type Foundry

3. Platia Toshi Omagari

1.

4. Manuka Klim Type Foundry

6. Shanghai Sky ReejiType

7. Happy Script Yorgo&Co

8. Lithops Display Velvetyne

2.

5.

3.

6.

8.

9.

10.

14.

13.